


She Prefers Physical Expressions

by wallbanger2008



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fade to Black, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Karai doesn’t do emotions, Leorai - Freeform, Making Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27389620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallbanger2008/pseuds/wallbanger2008
Summary: A tale of Leo and Karai’s first five kisses.
Relationships: Karai/Leonardo (TMNT)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	She Prefers Physical Expressions

The first time they kiss, Leo’s taken completely by surprise. He’s breathless before her lips even touch his—mostly because she’s just caught him by chest strap, whipped him around the side of a building and slammed him up against a brick wall. It’s hard to say what’s more intense: the emotional or the physical whiplash.

He’s been sneaking out to go on these raids with Karai and Shinigami for weeks now. It’s a rush. There’s something about wearing the black mask and leaving behind the blue and everything it represents. In the black, he’s free. He answers to no one. He’s responsible for no one. If he wants to torch millions of dollars in cash, he can. 

And if he wants to kiss back when the daughter of his clan’s greatest enemy plants her lips on his, he can. So he does. 

It’s rough and unplanned and their teeth clack before they're able to reposition themselves. For a second, his eyes go wide beneath his mask before they flutter shut. This is new to him, but he’s always been a kinesthetic learner. He follows her lead, slanting his mouth against hers and opening up to her when he feels her tongue teasing against his lips. 

He wraps his arms around her, the way he’s yearned to for so long now, but the second he attempts to pull her closer to him, she stops and draws back. She gives him a smile he can’t quite interpret and steps back. 

“Shini’s waiting,” she says in a low voice and he can only nod. He watches her turn on her heels and dart away into the night and, running his fingertips over his lips, allows himself a moment before he runs after her. 

* * *

It’s been weeks since their kiss, but Leo thinks about it every night, even when—especially when—he knows he should be thinking about other things. Like his father and how he’ll avenge him. Or his brothers and how he can keep them safe. 

All thoughts lead back to her. It’s actually a bit infuriating. Leo has never taken the easy route and apparently, much to his chagrin, that now extends to his love life. Trust that he would fall for someone so out of bounds. But then again, it’s not like he has options lining up around the block. And even if he did, there’s only one Karai. 

It’s a thought that hardens his resolve when he stares down at her in her hospital bed. This mess needs to end and by giving them the directions to Shredder’s base, she’s just given them the detonation key. He startles when she puts her hand in his and in her own way gives him her blessing to go kill the man who raised her. 

His brothers have always known there was something between them, and Leo mentally thanks them as they slip out the window one by one, leaving him alone with her. He sinks down, bringing his face closer to hers and reaching out to touch her. He’s nervous. Her body may be incapacitated, but he knows her tongue can cut just as well as her blades. 

But she says nothing as he runs a hand through her short hair, briefly wrapping one of the long tendrils around a finger. He knows she isn’t the type to get emotional. But he’s still able to catch the barest flicker of something as it crosses her face and he suddenly realizes that if this is the last time he sees her, he’ll never forgive himself for not acting on how he feels.

He leans closer to her, slowly, still waiting for her to rebuff him. When he’s close enough to feel her breath on his face and she hasn’t said anything, he closes the gap. 

This kiss is so different from their first. Where that kiss was hard and impulsive, this is gentle and hesitant. Leo’s lips only graze hers at first, but when he feels her good arm wrapping around his neck, he presses them more firmly against hers. 

He’s too nervous to deepen the kiss, so it’s once again Karai who slips her tongue between his lips. She tilts her head up toward him, and he can feel her trying to pour something into this kiss. He knows she’d never make him promise to come back to her. Not alive, anyway. She’s sending a different message with this kiss, and for two people like them, it’s probably better left unspoken. Words only make things harder. 

* * *

It’s little more than 24 hours before the next time they kiss. The gang is laying around the lair, too tired to celebrate just yet, but all finally at rest now that Shredder is dead. Leo is lounging on the couch, his head a foggy mess after what he’s just been through. What he’s just done. 

He’d picked up his phone multiple times on the drive home, each time preparing himself to text her. To let her know it was over. But he’d waited too long and Mikey of all people beat him to the punch, announcing he’d just texted Shinigami and she would pass along the message to Karai. 

He’s not sure how he feels about that yet. On one hand, her best friend was a good person to deliver that message. On the other hand… he’d sort of wanted to be the one to tell her. In his mind’s eye he sees himself approaching her hospital bed, solemn-faced and stoic, and telling her it was finished. She was free. He wouldn’t say it was because of him, that he had delivered the fatal blow, but she would know. He inwardly cringes. It shouldn’t matter how it happened or who told her. What mattered was that it happened at all. 

His phone chimes and his gut lurches when he sees it’s a text from her. She’s being discharged and she wants to see him. She tells him to meet her in the sewers near the hospital and he leaves immediately, not saying a word to the others. They probably know where he’s going anyway. 

He stands in the sewers under the hospital for almost an hour before he hears her approaching. He’s been rehearsing over and over what he should say, making changes and tweaks, trying to anticipate how she’ll react. As if he’s ever been able to do so. 

True to form, she surprises him. He’s barely able to croak out, “Karai,” before she’s enveloped him in a one-armed hug. He’s taken aback because he’s long put her solidly in the “Not A Hugger” camp, but he’s not going to turn her down. No sir, not after today. 

He waits for her to let go before he does, but she doesn’t. Instead, he feels her hand reach up and grab onto the tails of his mask, tugging his head down. He realizes what she’s doing a second before her lips are back on his, and this time he’s ready. 

There’s a hunger to this kiss. Karai is moving her mouth desperately against his and finally he’s the one who escalates. He snakes his tongue into her mouth, gliding it against her own. She tastes a bit like the orange juice she must have had for breakfast, but he can taste other things. _Relief. Grief. Karai._

He moves his hands over her back, one lowering to rest in the dip just above the flare of her ass, the other coming up to cradle her head. He feels her press herself closer to him, and he can now add arousal to the growing list of emotions that are now crowding his head. And other parts of him. 

They hear a voice calling to them from further down the pipes and pull back from each other. It’s Shinigami. Leo doesn’t think he’d mind if she found them like this, but all the same, when Karai steps backward out of his arms he lets her. 

“Leo,” she says quietly. “Thank you.” She puts a hand on his shoulder and holds it there. Leo only nods, knowing again that words aren’t always easy. 

* * *

It feels like a long time until they kiss again, and Leo isn’t sure what to make of it all. Especially since he’s seen her multiple times since their last kiss and, as always, she acts like it never happened. Does she have feelings for him? Are they anything like how he feels about her? What _is_ he to her? 

The one thing he does know is that Karai is _complicated_. Yes, they’re both in the same fucked up mental health boat, but unlike Leo, who’s slowly learning to lean on his family—to open up—Karai is as closed off as ever. 

And he gets it, he really does. She doesn’t have to be an open book for him to understand that she’s grieving the loss of her father and unpacking her complicated feelings about the death of the man who raised her—regardless of how he turned out in the end. But when she drags him into a dark room to help her “mourn” her now-deceased former Master Tatsu, he’s had about enough. 

He sighs as her lips find his in the dark, but it’s not out of pleasure. He kisses her back for a moment, only because he can’t not, then he gently pushes her back. 

“Karai,” he mumbles. 

“What?” Her voice is impatient and he knows this probably won’t go over well. This little interlude has only affirmed what he’s started to suspect. Karai doesn’t talk about her feelings. She’s a physical person and that’s how she chooses to express herself. And while it can certainly be nice for him when she’s _expressing_ herself against his lips, this isn’t what he wants. 

“Karai,” he begins again. “We can’t… I can’t keep doing this.”

“What’s wrong? I was under the impression you’ve been enjoying yourself.” He can hear the warning in her voice, but he continues anyway. 

“I am. I was. But… Karai, I don’t want to be some kind of,” he pauses, looking for the right word, “stress reliever for you.” 

She scoffs and takes a step back. “Excuse me?” 

“Look, you know… that I like you. And as much as I like this,” he motions back and forth between them. “It’s not… it’s not what I want.”

She says nothing, but her stare feels like it’s boring into his chest. This, unfortunately, is going exactly the way he thought it would. 

“What do you want?” Her words are calm, but there are no emotions behind them. She’s too good at what she does to let them leak out now. 

Leo straightens his spine and summons his courage. It’s a different kind of courage than he calls on in battle, but it’s courage nonetheless. “I don’t want to be used. Not like this, anyway. I’ll help you run down every last one of Shredder’s caches and I’ll always be there to back you up in a fight. And if you want to actually talk about whatever’s wrong, I’ll be there too. 

“But this. This…” He stalls, struggling to name whatever _this_ is. “This thing. Kissing me? It stops now. Because if we’re going to kiss or… or whatever,” he blushes, “I want it to be because we like each other. So.” 

He waits for her response. He’s sadly not surprised when all he gets is a curt nod before she walks away. 

* * *

A couple weeks go by and he hears nothing from her. It’s not that Karai’s a regular texter, so he doesn’t know what he expected, but still. He can’t help but worry this is a sign she’s gone off the grid—specifically to get away from him.

Leo consoles himself by reaffirming that he did the right thing. What they were doing wasn’t going to work forever. It wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t what he wanted. Reminding himself of this helps during the day. But at night, he finds himself regretting his words. If only because he worries he’ll never feel her lips on his again. 

He’s surprised when his phone chirps, seemingly out of the blue at 3:00 on a Thursday afternoon, and it’s her. She wants to see him and she asks him to come to Shredder’s old lair—her lair—tonight. 

He’s nervous as he walks through the doors. More nervous, in fact, than any other time he’s stepped foot in here, and given his history that’s really saying something. But he barely gets across the threshold of the main chamber before she’s in his arms. 

She puts her hands on either side of his face and his natural reaction is to wrap his arms around her body. He lets her pull him into another kiss, despite what he’d said to her last time, and goddamn it, it feels too good. Her lips are too warm and soft and her body is too perfect against his. He knows he needs to pull himself out of it, but he’s missed this too much. He moves his lips against hers, massaging her tongue with his own and for a second he wonders why he ever pushed her away. 

When she tears her mouth from his, he’s both grateful and disappointed. He realizes they’re both panting slightly, and he wonders what exactly she’s trying to prove here. He waits for her to talk, and after a few long seconds, she finally does.

“I thought you should know,” she says, licking her lips, “that I had a nice, peaceful day today. No… emotional upheaval,” she rolls her eyes as if the very idea is distasteful. “No adrenaline spikes. No surprises. Nothing.” 

Leo stares at her, trying to figure out why she’s telling him this. 

Karai’s lips curve up in a little smile. “I thought you should know that. Because that way, you’ll know I’m not in need of any kind of,” she makes air quotes, “stress relief.” 

_Oh_. 

She strokes his face and leans in to kiss him, briefly this time. He barely responds because his brain is still recovering from what she’s telling him. “I’m kissing you because I like you,” she says quietly.

She leans in again and this time he responds fully, mashing his lips against hers in a way that recalls their first kiss. He feels something warm blossoming in his chest and for the first time in months, he feels truly happy. After years of playing cat and mouse, it feels like the chase is finally over and he doesn’t care whether he was the cat _or_ the mouse. All that matters is this. 

He groans into her mouth as she presses herself against him and he feels his blood begin to drain southward. He’s not sure where this is going tonight, but he’s happy to let Karai lead him wherever she wants it to go. 

Case in point, he readily catches her in his arms when she jumps up and wraps her legs around him. His breath catches as he feels her roll her hips suggestively against his plastron. He squeezes her ass and breathes forcefully out his nose, trying to ground himself, which admittedly doesn’t come easy when Karai licks up his neck and nips at his jawline. 

He’s almost thankful when she pulls away, leaving an inch or so between their faces. “Leo,” she breathes. 

“Hmm?” His head is foggy, but in the best possible way. 

She smirks, looking down from her position in his arms and seeing the effect she’s had on him. “So I was thinking, seeing as it’s already been a good day for me,” she shrugs nonchalantly in his arms. “How would you feel about making it even _better_?” 

Leo’s heart thuds against his ribs and his wide-set eyes go round. He swallows hard and forces himself to reset. A slightly hysterical part of his brain is blaring the words “What would Captain Ryan do?”, but he ignores it. This isn’t Space Heroes. This is his life and this is Karai. And god knows she’d never let him live it down if she suspected he was getting all his moves from a cartoon character. 

Karai’s smirk fades a little and he realizes he’s taking a long time to respond. He blinks and nods his head. “I’d like that,” he says, his voice sounding huskier than usual. 

Her smile slides back into place and she moves to drop out of his arms. He lets her down but refuses to let go of her, drawing her back in for another kiss. 

“What, um, what did you have in mind?” he mutters as they pull apart. 

“Well, to use your phrasing, some kissing… or _whatever_ ,” she grins and he feels himself get hot in the face. She takes his hand and he lets her lead him out of the chamber and down a hallway toward a room with an open door. The light is on in the room, and he can see before he gets there that it’s a bedroom. Her bedroom. 

He knows as he enters that there probably won’t be any more discussion of feelings or passionate declarations of love. Not tonight. Karai had vocally admitted her feelings for him and that was enough. From here on out tonight, he was more than happy to let her express how she felt via her normal, physical way. 


End file.
